


Hashtag The Devil

by sandyk



Category: Elementary (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-18
Updated: 2014-06-18
Packaged: 2018-02-05 05:24:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1806865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandyk/pseuds/sandyk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is why they call him a devil and I am forced to agree. It is largely thefts, but not just cash. This villain targets the working poor, the struggling from week to week, and first takes something they need; medication, iPad, smartphone, paycheck, bicycle, tricked out wheelchair. Then, 2 to 3 weeks later as they begin to recover or have replaced the item, he strikes again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hashtag The Devil

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wei](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wei/gifts).



> Not mine, no profit garnered. Thanks to sfa for excellent beta help, all mistakes mine.

Sherlock stamped up the steps to Joan’s apartment in a manner she would no doubt have described as passive-aggressive but was actually merely emphatic. He knocked on her door vigorously as he was unsure if she had had one of her late nights of looking for love in what could kindly be described as wrong places.

“Good morning,” she said as she opened the door. “I know I’ve pointed out you don’t need to bang like that.”

“I never know if you are awake,” he said, walking in. “I believe I have discovered a villain of immense evil and we must get to work immediately, with absolute urgency.”

“You don’t use the word evil lightly,” Joan said, sitting down on her couch.

“No. And I definitely do not in this case. I was, last night, attending a meeting with Randy when a woman spoke of her troubles, the usual dross and blather, but my interest was peaked when she mentioned she had been victimized by a devil who was stalking her neighborhood. She said this devil, who she did not believe was actually a supernatural creature, had first stolen her week’s pay after she cashed it and then, three weeks later, just as she was beginning to recover from that catastrophe, he robbed her again even though she had changed the place where she cashed her check and how she got herself home. As I'm sure you know, it is frighteningly expensive to be poor in New York City so losing two week's pay was an absolute disaster. I was astonished to hear from her after the meeting that this a pattern, and has happened to people she and Randy know.”

“The double thefts?”

“This is why they call him a devil and I am forced to agree. It is largely thefts, but not just cash. This villain targets the working poor, the struggling from week to week, and first takes something they need; medication, iPad, smartphone, paycheck, bicycle, tricked out wheelchair. Then, 2 to 3 weeks later as they begin to recover or have replaced the item, he strikes again.”

“Is it some sort of scheme to get these people to move out, or-“

“My thoughts went there as well. But it is nothing quite so venial. The victims aren’t rendered homeless, generally, they’re just that much more miserable and despairing.”

Joan frowned. “That’s horrible. And the police,” she paused. “I bet very few of those crimes are reported. The wheelchair, the electronics, maybe.”

“Exactly,” Sherlock said. “Which is also a problem for us.”

“Because it will be difficult to find the victims and without a clear picture of who and how he’s targeting, we can’t form a complete profile.” Joan looked at Sherlock. She said, “Do you think it’s racial?”

“I also thought of that as a possible motive, but the seven victims I’ve identified include two white women and an older Latino. The only thing these seven have in common is zip code and socioeconomic status.”

“We should-“

Sherlock interrupted. “Start a timeline? I agree.” He went to the corkboard he’d insisted Watson get and began pinning to it.

She said, “Are you planning to come over to do your late night thinking here? Because that is not happening.”

“Of course not, you intentionally neglected to get fast enough Wi-Fi.”

“It’s what the building provides,” she said.

“But I note your laptop is hooked up to the much faster cable Internet. Anyway, I am setting this up here because I am fairly certain this will not be a case we solve today or even this week. I will retain the essentials up here,” he tapped his head. “But I will not be working on it late at night.” He frowned. “It really is quite dastardly, what this man does.”

“Seriously,” Joan said, looking at what Sherlock had pinned.

“I don’t think you and I can go door to door to find the victims we need. I am, I admit, somewhat at a loss as to the best place to advertise.”

"I would think, hm, social media, twitter, facebook," Joan said.

"Yes, I am aware of two of the sites that comprise social media," Sherlock said.

"I meant, those two sites are probably the most popular ones among our victims," Joan said. 

"Do you think we should start a twitter and ask about these crimes, look for other victims? I doubt you or I would get much response and victims would be wary of being victimized again," Sherlock said. He cogitated. 

Joan nodded. "Does Randy have a twitter?"

"He does," Sherlock said. "Excellent idea." He briefly calculated the risks involved. "I think he would appreciate helping out. Being involved."

Joan said, "Do you think --"

They locked eyes. "Yes," Sherlock said. "Brilliant again. I wonder if the victims had twitter accounts, ones that identified where they lived and what their prized possessions were." 

Joan nodded. "I was actually thinking that, too."

Sherlock said, "I acknowledged that."

As Sherlock predicted it was weeks before they had enough information to do an accurate and, more importantly, helpful profile. 

He knocked on Watson's door until she opened it. "Hello," she said as she opened the door. 

She went immediately to the board, not even allowing him to pass on his news. She pointed to the timeline and said, "I had a thought."

"That every person who's responded to Randy's twitter ad and we subsequently interviewed had a twitter with the exception of the one fellow who has a wife who is very active on twitter --"

"She's brilliant," Watson said.

"I noticed you had followed her. I can not wait for your new tweets about your life hashtag Yes-all-consulting-detectives."

Watson laughed. "You really are getting more comfortable on twitter," she said. 

"Yes, I am quite the aficionado now. And --"

"And," Watson said. "While our timeline isn't precise, I think we can put the theft of the husband's iPad and then the replacement, we can put that at the beginning. I think it might have been the first."

Sherlock smiled. "I had the same thought."

"So while none of the 40 victims we've found so far are followed by the same tweeter," Watson said. "I bet we find him in the followers of the first few victims now that we've narrowed it down."

"So we can put devil to person who is tweeting." 

Watson smiled. "I just did." She pointed to the twitter bio on the screen. Their devil had an innocuous name and bio on twitter. He did not list his location nor any identifying interests. 

"Can we link him to an actual name?"

Watson sighed. "Not yet. We could ask your friends at Everyone."

"Excellent thought. Also, today Randy had his keys and smartphone stolen."

"Oh no," Watson said. "Our bad guy?"

"Yes, I am quite sure. Which is interesting because Randy has mentioned neither his keys or his phone on twitter, unlike the previous victims," Sherlock said. "It was a risk I took into account before asking him to help us."

"So our devil targeted Randy because we asked him to tweet for us," Watson said. 

"Yes, yes. Covered. We have a decent description of the devil from his six muggings and brazen thefts, and Randy has nothing to add to it," Sherlock said. "I need to contact Everyone and I know you refuse to participate in their usual payment for service so I need to do so at my living space."

Watson said, "How is Randy going without keys and a phone?"

"I replaced both, of course," Sherlock said and then left before Watson could think of another obvious question to ask. 

After jogging for two miles in a leather assless catsuit, Everyone had provided the full information on their man. Sherlock and Watson surveilled the address and the man and were able to match him to their description of the devil. 

Sherlock compiled all the information they had and together with Watson presented it to Detective Bell. "We are ready to stand behind you as you arrest this devil."

Bell smiled. "I bet you are. But I'm going to give you the name of the detective you actually need to take this to."

"Why?"

"None of these occurred in my precinct. You should deal with the guys who work there. I know a guy."

So he and Watson took a cab down to the correct precinct to meet Bell's "guy." The man in question was a caucasian male, 45, no college degree, twice divorced, no children, and he played lacrosse on the weekends. Sherlock missed his actual name but it was of no consequence anyway. 

Lacrosse Guy flipped through their file and said, "This shithead is just, wow."

"Shithead indeed," Sherlock said. "Shall we?"

Their shithead was home and but refused to let them in. "Okay, then," Lacross fellow said. "We've got a warrant, though." He smiled as he broke down the door. 

Shithead, a caucasian male, 56, no previous criminal history, dashed for the window but the Lacrosse detective dashed right after him and with greater speed. He was soon apprehended. 

Joan said, "He kept everything."

Sherlock glanced around the crowded apartment. He saw, as Watson had noted, many of the objects that had been stolen, including Randy's smartphone. If he had known the man was keeping everything, he might have waited before replacing and upgrading Randy's phone. 

Two weeks later, Watson knocked on his door. "You have a key," Sherlock said.

"I like to knock," she said. "Do you want to come with me to return things?" 

"Ah, yes," Sherlock said. "I heard he pled guilty. Pled guilty with no explanation."

"He was evil," Joan said. "He found a way to make people miserable in a place where he could see their misery every single day. But we get to make that better."

"I imagine you are eager to meet your new favorite womanist twitter heroine," he said. 

"I'm eager to see all of them." she said. "How often do we get to make things better? It's like Santa Claus. So, come with."

"Do we get to ride the high end wheelchair?"

"Big things were already returned," she said. "But we have the small stuff."

Sherlock thought. Then he said, "I think that would be a good use of time, yes."


End file.
